Summary: The church must adhere to the boundaries God has established in order to maintain it’s effectiveness.

Boundaries

Jigsaw puzzle

Cornerstone - boundary pieces

No boundaries in our country - 9/11

Same on a smaller scale - the family

A Person’s Character is one’s destiny

It is easier to set a man against the entire world than against himself, and yet this must be in conversion

The gate is strait and the way narrow and up-hill, but one hour in heaven will make amends for it.

Most of our problems result from our own character weakness.

Where we possess inner strength - we often succeed & overcome - even in the toughest of circumstances

Yet where we lack inner strength - we often get stuck or fail

Why do we need to teach our children boundaries?

Because our society is challenging our children at the core of their beliefs.

One of the most lucrative sins of the world today is that of selling imitation items. Many are making their living selling items as "originals" when in fact they are nothing more than "counterfeits."

Most quoted scripture in the media 30 years ago - God so loved…

Most quoted scripture now - Judge not – lest ye be judged

Proverbs 29:18

Vision - sight, revelation. To see with experience, or with intelligence. Understanding & Training.

Perish - to show a lack or restraint or become loose. Are left uncovered or naked.

Jeremiah 31:15-17

Work - labor >> doers

Rewarded - to earn wages

Hope - expectation, the thing you’ve waited for >> to collect

End - latter days, posterity

Set boundaries to the sea

Set boundaries to the tribes’ inheritance

Boundaries work as parallel -

2 railroad tracks

Matthew 7:11

Wide - >>> to mold

Gate - access or entrance

Broad - >>> without bounds

Way - hoods - a course of conduct,

Destruction - ruin

Strait or narrow - to be kept intact, to set in balance, to be established, to stand still & immovable

Narrow - to press, or to trouble

Find it - to search for, to find out through practice & experience

In biblical time - nearly every town was surrounded with walls & had wide broad gates that many passes through.

The strait gates were the narrow doors in the retired corners and were only opened to them that knocked.

It is narrow - so we must strip off those things that will keep us from entering in it.

It is hard to find because many prefer to go the easy way.

Boundaries on either side of the narrow path

Prov 24:30

Stone broken down

Fields of beautiful farms, strait rows, maintained, kept clean, fruitful

This knowledge doesn’t come over night

Perhaps it is passed down from generation to generation

Each of us has the ability to plant & to water

Have your boundaries shifted - have you let your guard down.

Do you allow things now - that you would never allow when you first got saved?

If so - stop & consider what is outside of the wall.

Faith works within the boundaries of God’s Word - Romans 10:17

Prov 25:28

Rule - control or restraint

Broken down - to be spread open or broken through - defenseless

Without walls -